Toronto at Indiana

O'Neal's 21 points lead Indiana to third straight win

INDIANAPOLIS -- Danny Granger is making
a habit of saving his best basketball for the second half.

Granger scored 14 of his 18 points in the third quarter to help Indiana
pull away, and the Pacers beat the Toronto Raptors 102-84 Saturday night.

The versatile forward, averaging 12.9 points, scored 14 of his 16 points
in the fourth quarter and overtime in Wednesday's comeback victory over
the Miami Heat.

After starting 0-for-5 from the field against Miami, Granger scored four
points on 2-of-4 shooting in the first half of Saturday's game.

"I'm going to keep shooting regardless," he said. "If I miss four in a
row and I'm open, I'm going to shoot it -- that's just the way I play."

After falling behind 40-39 at the half, Granger and the Pacers began to
take control in the third quarter. Granger made all four of his 3-point
attempts in the period as Indiana opened a 69-61 edge.

"He's just playing his game," said Raptors forward Chris Bosh, who led Toronto with 26 points and 12 rebounds.
"He's pretty much a 3-point threat now."

Jermaine O'Neal finished with 21 points, seven assists and six
rebounds, and Mike Dunleavy added 15
points for the Pacers (23-20), who won their third straight game after
losing a season-high four in a row.

The Pacers are 3-1 with their new players on the court following an
eight-player trade with Golden State on Jan. 17. Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Ike Diogu have
all made contributions.

"The more games you play, the more comfortable you're going to feel,"
Dunleavy said. "Each and every game we'll get better, hopefully."

O'Neal has been encouraged with Indiana's play since the trade.

"We're starting to play well together," he said. "We have a fine mix of
everything. If teams try to stack up on one thing, we come back with a
different punch."

The Pacers, who finished 11-of-22 from behind the arc, opened an 81-66
lead following consecutive 3-pointers by Darrell
Armstrong and Dunleavy with eight minutes left in the fourth
quarter.

"We wanted to force them to shoot the long jump shots, and they made
them," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said.

Trailing 26-18 early in the second quarter, the Pacers went on a 10-1
run, which was capped by O'Neal's basket to give Indiana a 28-27 lead.

The Raptors (22-23) took a 37-32 edge following Bosh's dunk with 3:30
left in the period. The Pacers scored the next seven points, but Toronto
got a jumper from Jorge Garbajosa and
Bosh's free throw to take a one-point halftime lead.

"I think we ran out of gas a little bit," said Mitchell, whose team was
playing a back-to-back after beating Boston on Friday night. "Those
aren't excuses, but that's just the NBA."

Notes

In his first game after being named an All-Star starter, Bosh had 26
points and eight rebounds in the victory over Boston.

Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, whose team will play the
Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl, attended the game. He received a
standing ovation from the Conseco Fieldhouse crowd when shown on the
big screen.

The Pacers finished 3-1 on their longest homestand of the season thus
far. They play at Detroit on Sunday.

Indiana improved to 30-14 all-time against Toronto.

Raptors rookie Andrea Bargnani had two points on 1-of-6
shooting from the field.

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